Inflammation is a set of localized nonspecific immune responses elicited by tissue injury. On the one hand, inflammatory responses are protective, as they serve to destroy, dilute, or sequester both the injurious agent and the injured tissue. On the other hand, they have been observed in almost all disease/disorders, either as a contributing factor or as a disease syndrome.
Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass and loss of bone tissue, resulting in weak and fragile bones. Renal failure is a disorder in which the kidneys do not function properly. Diabetic nephropathy is a progressive kidney disease associated with longstanding diabetes mellitus. Inflammatory responses have been observed in all of these three diseases.
The IL-20 receptor, a dimeric complex, contains subunits R1 and R2 (also known as RA and RB). It is a common receptor for three functionally different cytokines, i.e., IL-19, IL-20, and IL-24. This suggests that IL-20 receptor can trigger different signaling pathways when activated by different cytokines.